Hoylake needs a fair wind

Royal Liverpool has produced some great champions over the years. If the course lives up to its windswept history, expect another classic

Back to Hoylake, back after 39 years to the place of mighty winds, the breeder of mighty champions. The return of The Open to the links of Royal Liverpool is part pilgrimage, an appointment with ghosts on historic ground, and part tournament, the test to find the champion golfer for the year and to award the prizes — gold medal, Claret Jug and cheque.

The first impressions on Friday morning, when the sun was in command, were heartening. The colours of the course are biscuit-brown, yellow and green; the undulations of the dunes stretch away into the distance; the sea is not visible, but it can be sensed; it’s true links-land.

While swallows sweep the first fairway, men are hammering, completing the grandstands, fixing the tee-markers, bashing the last nails into place. “Everyone here is chuffed to bits,” says Peter Dawson, secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, “and I